The present invention relates to devices used to practice batting a baseball or softball.
Because it is often inconvenient or inefficient to use live or machine pitching for baseball batting practice, a number of prior art devices have been developed to allow a young baseball player to hit a baseball without the need for other players to pitch or retrieve the ball. Typical prior art structures are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,322,075; 4,415,155; 3,830,494; 4,010,950; 4,050,694; 3,006,647; 3,366,383; 3,454,275; 2,976,040; 2,058,277; 4,508,340; and 4,502,684.
The prior art devices, however, have been deficient in one or more significant areas. Some are too complex and expensive for purchase and use by young ball players. Or, they lack features to prevent dangerous return movement of the ball after it is hit or to return the ball to a hitting position with a simulated pitching motion. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,075 is, in many respects, quite similar to the present invention, in that it has a horizontal and vertical tether. Yet, it has some of the drawbacks just referred to. Although the horizontal tether of the '075 device restricts dangerous return ball action, it also requires the batter to continue to hit a relatively stationary ball, as if on a batting tee. Also, the height of the horizontal tether on the pole must be adjusted for batters of varying size. In addition, because the horizontal tether is fixed at its ball-end, a mis-hit above the ball could cause injury to the batter when the bat motion is stopped abruptly by the restraining vertical and horizontal tethers.
What is needed, then, is a batting practice device which is tethered to maximize safety, which automatically self-adjusts to the strength and size of the batter, and which simulates a pitched ball motion.